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I see on St Mirren fans Facebook page that the club has banned any displays until end of the season because of the recent banner at the derby saying "Greenock Scum". The general consensus on Facebook is the club are overreacting but imo I think the ban is justified due to the wording on the banner. Thoughts???

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I see on St Mirren fans Facebook page that the club has banned any displays until end of the season because of the recent banner at the derby saying "Greenock Scum". The general consensus on Facebook is the club are overreacting but imo I think the ban is justified due to the wording on the banner. Thoughts???

I agree with the club, there is no way they should of used the banner to display the word Greenock , 2 syllables, they’d never of understood it.

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They should have been given a warning and instructed that if they repeated a similar act, then their right to display banners would be rescinded. However, if they'd already received such a warning, and I have no idea whether they have or not, then a ban would be an acceptable course of action IMO. The word "scum" should be reserved for the bigot brothers.

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We’ve never been warned since we started the section. In fact all feedback has been positive. Even from JR and the players.

We knew the banner was gonna be on the line of what was acceptable - but was only meant as being a bit cheeky - drawing attention to how long it was since they last won a cup!

There was no backlash from Morton fans, so can’t imagine they were too offended. In fact had a few of them backing us up on twitter. They had one a few seasons back with Tesselaar’s “shitehole” headline..

We hold our hands up that the banner was a wee bit on the line - and would accept a slap on the wrist or a few games flag ban. But till the end of the season? Don’t think it was that bad.

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We’ve never been warned since we started the section. In fact all feedback has been positive. Even from JR and the players.

We knew the banner was gonna be on the line of what was acceptable - but was only meant as being a bit cheeky - drawing attention to how long it was since they last won a cup!

There was no backlash from Morton fans, so can’t imagine they were too offended. In fact had a few of them backing us up on twitter. They had one a few seasons back with Tesselaar’s “shitehole” headline..

We hold our hands up that the banner was a wee bit on the line - and would accept a slap on the wrist or a few games flag ban. But till the end of the season? Don’t think it was that bad.

Whilst I agree and sympathise, the threatened half game silence v Livi is a petty and ill-informed response that is hardly going to resolve the issue.

Essentially the group has decided to demonstrate how passionate they are about Saints by willingly risking them harm. That just doesn't make sense.

If the noise makes a positive impact on the team then one has to assume the silence will have a detrimental effect.

Withdraw the petty harmful threats of protest and enter into dialogue.

It is very clear that the vast majority of fans think the ban is way OTT... don't lost their support and risk returning to a them and us situation.

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Whilst I agree and sympathise, the threatened half game silence v Livi is a petty and ill-informed response that is hardly going to resolve the issue.

Essentially the group has decided to demonstrate how passionate they are about Saints by willingly risking them harm. That just doesn't make sense.

If the noise makes a positive impact on the team then one has to assume the silence will have a detrimental effect.

Withdraw the petty harmful threats of protest and enter into dialogue.

It is very clear that the vast majority of fans think the ban is way OTT... don't lost their support and risk returning to a them and us situation.

I remain hopeful that the club will listen to reason.

I hope the same applies to te group.

Fair point. We’ve had the same debates within our group. We hope the club realise they’ve overstepped the mark with the ban and we won’t need to do any of that. We’ve had the same debates within our group. Ideally want to keep the section going every game, we know the players love the noise.

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Fair point. We’ve had the same debates within our group. We hope the club realise they’ve overstepped the mark with the ban and we won’t need to do any of that. We’ve had the same debates within our group. Ideally want to keep the section going every game, we know the players love the noise.

As BuddieinEK suggested, get in touch with the club through the SLO's, admit you were a bit OTT, promise it won't happen again and ask for a couple of games suspended sentence.

But above all, bin the silence idea, not least because it makes your collective group seem about five years old!

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Wow... if this is as "mad" as it gets these days and there is such a reaction them game over. My days of taking a large flag to games and sitting in the middle of a singing section have long gone but I've personally been impressed by the behaviour of the fans that make up this group. A warning was all that was required. OTT and will have a negative impact to the atmosphere.

We’ve never been warned since we started the section. In fact all feedback has been positive. Even from JR and the players.

We knew the banner was gonna be on the line of what was acceptable - but was only meant as being a bit cheeky - drawing attention to how long it was since they last won a cup!

There was no backlash from Morton fans, so can’t imagine they were too offended. In fact had a few of them backing us up on twitter. They had one a few seasons back with Tesselaar’s “shitehole” headline..

We hold our hands up that the banner was a wee bit on the line - and would accept a slap on the wrist or a few games flag ban. But till the end of the season? Don’t think it was that bad.

You are a organised group have a commitee if you dont already have one with its members. make an appointment with TF. Put your case and have rules in place. Time consuming but it should work.

I don't remember "all feedback" being positive among our own fans about the banner and despite saying I wasn't offended by the banner but thought "Greenock Morton trophyless..." would have been funnier and using the word "scum" on the banner could have landed the club in bother with the SFA or SPFL or had us fined if they took the view the club allowed or encouraged fans to display a banner implying everyone from a certain location is "scum".

I do remember that probably a dozen fans who thought the banner was brilliant recommended that if I was that offended (I wasn't) I should not come back to watch St Mirren and saw other fans who also thought a banner without the word scum also being given the same advice.

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I don't remember "all feedback" being positive among our own fans about the banner and despite saying I wasn't offended by the banner but thought "Greenock Morton trophyless..." would have been funnier and using the word "scum" on the banner could have landed the club in bother with the SFA or SPFL or had us fined if they took the view the club allowed or encouraged fans to display a banner implying everyone from a certain location is "scum".

I do remember that probably a dozen fans who thought the banner was brilliant recommended that if I was that offended (I wasn't) I should not come back to watch St Mirren and saw other fans who also thought a banner without the word scum also being given the same advice.

I mean apart from the banner in question, we’ve never had an issue. We self police our wee section pretty well..

I’ll be first to admit that the banner was probably not our best idea ever, it’s not seen as banter by everyone. We just feel the rest of season flag ban is a bit on the harsh side and would like the club to rethink. If they want to know what our banners say before each game, that’s easy enough to arrange.

Can only really speak for myself regarding Facebook, would never speak to a fellow buddie like that. Poor from whoever said it to you

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I see some of the big supporters of the controversial banner are now calling for a banner at Inverness to "ban the board" from home games or move to a boycott of home games to hurt the board financially since they don't care about real fans and only care about money.

Personally I am worried clubs will drop their interest in Lewis Morgan, Jack Ross et al and deal us a death blow by moving in to sign up our singing section and banner makers on long term contracts. Without over-exaggerating one bit we could be looking at the death of St Mirren Football Club as we know it.

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I mean apart from the banner in question, we’ve never had an issue. We self police our wee section pretty well..

I’ll be first to admit that the banner was probably not our best idea ever, it’s not seen as banter by everyone. We just feel the rest of season flag ban is a bit on the harsh side and would like the club to rethink. If they want to know what our banners say before each game, that’s easy enough to arrange.

Can only really speak for myself regarding Facebook, would never speak to a fellow buddie like that. Poor from whoever said it to you

The facebook pages are what they are and I'll obviously be back. I agree the ban is OTT as well and it would make sense for the club to accept the offer to see banners in advance in future.

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In an age where drunken Rangers fans with alcohol problems narrowly avoid jail for posting threats about the Hibs manager on facebook [see this week's news], it is just possible that our board could have been advised that grown men holding up banners calling people from a named town "scum" could get the club fined or the individuals concerned arrested / thrown out the ground / charged with offensive behaviour and been a bit OTT in their response in trying to protect the banner makers /holders or the club from legal problems.

The meltdown accusing the club of not caring about our fans, calling for boycotts, accusing the board of wanting to kill the atmosphere, colour and attendances at our own home games is entertaining to watch if nothing else.

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1) The world has gone PC mad if you can’t make a cheeky dig on a banner at your rivals. If anyone was genuinely offended then they need to lighten up. Get a grip of yourselves.

2) To ban these guys is an absolute disgrace and I find it a bit insulting actually (and this comes from someone with no connection to this group whatsoever who sits over in the main stand).

The atmosphere that these guys (combined with a decent team) have created in their own time and at their own cost, has vastly improved the match experience recently. Let’s not forget attendances are up and the players have spoken about the feel good atmosphere at the ground.

To slap a ban on these guys without any discussions is arrogant and unappreciative

3) To this group of fans - see my first point above but if you thought there might be repercussions then why make the banner? Don’t go looking for conflict with the club - thankfully you’re not the green brigade so don’t act like them. Work with the club not against each other

4) Petty threats of silent first halves etc come across as immature. You’ve got the backing of most fair minded saints fans at the moment - don’t alienate us with this sort of nonsense.

If the club don’t budge then by all means let the world know you feel let down and totally disheartened. Then move on and do what you normally do on a Saturday and get behind the team.

We all want a successful team and to enjoy going to the games on a Saturday. If you can help in the smallest way by singing throughout the game etc. then do exactly that. If the club don’t appreciate it take it up with the relevant people at the end of the season and you’ll have the majority of the punters behind you.